Lienzer Dolomitenhütte - Große Gamswiesenspitze (Normalweg)

Access to starting point:
Through the Karawanks Tunnel, we drive into Austria, then continue driving towards Spittal and further towards Lienz (a little after Spittal the highway ends). Further, we drive on a relatively nice and wide road through the Drau valley. A few kilometers before Lienz (near the settlement Unterdorf), we will notice signs for the mountain hut Lienzer Dolomitenhütte, which direct us to the left onto a local road. The road then crosses the river Drava/Drau over a bridge and brings us to the village Lavant, where we continue right in the direction of the village Tristach. Between the village Lavant and Tristach we will come to the next crossroad, where we continue left in the direction of "Lienzer Dolomitenhütte". We follow this road, which starts ascending more steeply, to a large parking lot near the mentioned mountain hut. The road is payable (July 2009 7€).
We can also reach Lienz if, instead of through the Drava valley, we drive through the Gail valley (Korensko sedlo, Hermagor, pass Ziljsko sedlo/Gailbergsattel); in this case, we arrive in the Drava valley at the settlement Oberdrauburg.

Path description:
From the parking lot, we continue on the road, on which in 2 minutes we arrive at the mountain hut Lienzer Dolomitenhütte.
From the hut, we cross the fence and continue the ascent on a panoramic road (nice view of the serrated ridge - highest is Spitzkofel 2717 m), which in the initial part is exposed to falling rocks. The road then crosses a short stretch of forest and brings us to the indistinct saddle Premstall (1625 m), where there is a smaller junction.
We continue straight past the water trough (left uphill to Weißtein Alm) on the road, which after a few minutes of further walking brings us to the smaller pasture Instein Alm, on which we notice a small wooden hut and slightly above it a chapel.
We continue further on the road, which quickly brings us to a marked junction, where we leave it.
We continue the ascent on a wide mountain path, which starts to ascend somewhat more steeply through increasingly sparse forest. The path, from which very nice views open up, crosses the mountain road several times and brings us higher to a small wooden shelter.
At the shelter, we leave the road again and walk for a short time on a footpath towards the Karlsbader Hütte hut, then turn onto the footpath that leads sharply right towards the saddle Kerschbaumer Törl. Initially we still walk in the grassy valley, then we begin to ascend the scree towards the saddle. When we reach below the walls of the peak Törlkopf, the path from the Karlsbader Hütte hut joins from the left. The path then turns slightly left and a short ascent follows to the saddle Kerschbaumer Törl. At the saddle, where there is a junction, we continue right slightly downhill following the signs “Madonnen Klettersteig”. After a short descent, we reach another junction where we continue right and further in descent cross the slopes below the peak Kleine Gamswiesenspitze. When the path brings us into the dwarf pines, signposts “gr. Gamswiesenspitze” soon direct us right uphill. The path then ascends a partly grassy slope and soon brings us to another junction and thus to the start of the climbing section of the path.
We continue right following the signs “Normalweg”, while left leads the extremely demanding path “Madonnen Klettersteig”. The path further first crosses the slope along a steel cable to the right, then turns left uphill. This section of the path is quite steep and also very crumbly, so the use of self-belaying is recommended. The path then becomes somewhat less steep and safety gear is no longer needed. During the further ascent, we reach grassy slopes, then a somewhat more crumbly section follows all the way to the notch between the peaks Große Gamswiesenspitze and Kleine Gamswiesenspitze.
From the notch, we continue left, while right leads the extremely demanding path to Kleine Gamswiesenspitze. Here the path in ascent crosses steep grassy slopes to the west, then turns slightly right and climbs towards the ridge. When we reach the ridge, the path “Madonnen Klettersteig” joins from the left side and only a short ascent along the panoramic ridge to the summit follows.

On the way: Instein Alm (1669m), Kerschbaumer Törl (2285m)